Hurdles in Diamer-Bhasha Dam be removed, says PM
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday directed the Ministry of Water Resources to remove all the impediments in the way of the Diamer-Basha Dam project.

He also directed the Ministry of Water Resources to focus on all the ongoing development projects and ensure their timely completion.

Chairing a meeting on Wapda affairs here at the PM Office, he said the new Ministry of Water Resources had been constituted for better resolution of issues.

He said that the matter of water security was neglected in the past, while the entire focus was on power generation.

He said the present government had taken the lead to initiate mega water projects as water was the backbone of economy. "We must make the Ministry of Water Resources productive and renew our efforts in this regard," the prime minister said.

Wapda Chairman Lt General (retd) Muzammil Hussain gave an overview and briefed the prime minister on the ongoing water and power projects conceived as well as executed under the present government under top experts besides informing him about the future projects with focus on water resource management.

It was pointed that all the strategic projects conceived by the present government were on targets in terms of timelines.

The meeting was informed that among the ongoing projects, Kacchi Canal would be ready for inauguration during the current month.

The canal would irrigate 72,000 acres of land in Dera Bugti.

The project was delayed in terms of time and cost over a period of 15 years.

The present government took the lead and removed all the bottlenecks to complete the project, Wapda chairman said.

The prime minister expressed satisfaction over the project and said the entire demography of Dera Bugti and other regions of Balochistan would change for good once the virgin lands were irrigated.

The Wapda chairman also briefed the meeting on 969MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project and said the first unit of NJHPP would be commissioned on schedule in February 2018, second in March, 2018 and the third and fourth units would be ready for inauguration in April 2018. Regarding the 1,410MW Tarbela-IV extension, the chairman informed that its first unit would be ready for generation by February 2018, second by April, 2018 and the third by May, 2018.

The meeting was also briefed on the projects in the pipelines including the Dasu Hydropower Project and Diamer-Basha Dam Project in terms of preliminary works.

The prime minister directed to control cost escalation in the projects without compromising quality of work.

He directed continuous monitoring of these projects given their national significance, and desired to place these in the agenda of the next CCI meeting to evolve a consensus among all the stakeholders.

"Our focus on the Diamer Basha Dam must be renewed and all the bottlenecks must be removed," the prime minister said.

"We must take decision as not taking decisions is not an option anymore," he said.

The prime minister also directed frequent review meetings on water resource management and asked that all stakeholders should be taken on board.

Secretary water and other senior government officials were also present during the meeting.